Quote Of The Day

"No man is enitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation."
- General Douglas MacArthur

The Smoking Gun - 2004 Edition

I was reading Daily Kos this morning (I know, it's hard to believe - but I assure you it's true) when I came upon an article which claimed that the final vote count in the 2004 presidential election could not have been correct based on exit polling data. I was surprised by the sophisticated level of mathematics the writer employed to convince us the election was rigged/stolen by the Republicans without out taking into consideration the largest variable in the equation; ALL HIS ASSUMPTIONS WERE BASED ON AN EXIT POLL. And the exit poll was given more credibility than the actual election results! While the writer obviously has strong mathematical skills, he is seriously lacking in the critical reasoning department.

And if the original post wasn’t bad enough, the first comment went completely around the bend (emphasis added):

“I'm tired of people worried about tin foil hats and what not. Knowing what I know about the character and past behavior of the people in office - I'm sure they stole these elections. The machines were rigged, the votes weren't counted. Democracy in the US has basically been in shambles, ripe for a revolution, if you ask me, since a certain 5-4 decision in late 2000.”

All of this left me wondering exactly how successful we will be reasoning with one another, as a nation, and how we will be able to make the often difficult decisions that lie ahead. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but as Soren Kierkergaard pointed out:

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

So, if you follow this "logic":

• The election must have been stolen because the results didn't match the exit polling.
• We should have a revolution because the election was stolen.
• We should discard centuries of representative government all because the election did not come out the way you wanted.

After all, just exactly how "representative" can this government be if the candidate you voted for did not get elected? If the tin foil hat fits....

QED

Quote Of The Day

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Memorial Day "Remembering"

Here is an article written yesterday by Fred Thompson that illustrates a point I have made repeatedly and which has a profound impact on our nation; Americans don't know their own history:

Remembering
By Fred Thompson

I remember when I was a kid; one thing was clear to me. The more I learned about the rest of the world, the luckier I felt just having been born in America. The more I learned about America, the more I appreciated what those who came before us built; and how exceptional they were.

Not that there aren’t other great places to live, but America is unique. It’s not just that we are the freest and most prosperous county the world has ever seen. America has also freed more people than any other nation in history.

A lot of people have done their part to see that we are blessed with the advantages we enjoy — from hardworking pioneer mothers to the Framers of the Constitution. Memorial Day is coming up, though, and I’m thinking more about American soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice — those who died to protect our way of life and make the world safe for democracy.

There are some people, though, who don’t think that’s such a good idea. Some people even want to use Memorial Day to protest our military’s presence in Iraq. The irony is that their right to protest was paid for by people willing to risk everything to keep the forces of tyranny at bay — here as well as Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, Burma, Vietnam, the Philippines, and dozens of other countries.

Over the years, a lot of people have tried to talk us out of feeling about America the way we do. Instead of pride in what America has done, they want us to feel guilty — generally because we have so much more than rest of the world. Of course, it wouldn’t help the rest of the world one whit if we had less — either of freedom or of prosperity. On the contrary, it’s our liberties that have made us prosperous and there’s no reason the rest of the world couldn’t be just as well-off — if they embraced freedom as well.

Almost always, when I talk to people who see America as the problem, their arguments are based on ignorance or an outright tangling of history. What they thought they knew about America and the world came second- and third-hand through people with axes to grind.

That’s why I was troubled recently when I came across a report by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. The report’s conclusion was that American colleges and universities are failing to increase their students’ knowledge of America’s history and institutions.

Students polled in a wide range of colleges and universities showed no real improvement in their historical knowledge. Some actually forgot part of what they’d learned in high school by the time they graduated — and I’m talking about some of our best-known Ivy League schools.

Less than half of college seniors knew that, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal” is from the Declaration of Independence. Less than half knew basic facts about the First Amendment. Half didn’t know that the Federalist Papers were written in support of the Constitution’s ratification. Only a quarter of seniors knew the purpose of the Monroe Doctrine.

This is our quandary. Memorial Day is about remembering. It’s about remembering those who died for our country; but it’s also about remembering why they believed it was worth dying for. Too many Americans, though, have never been taught our own history and heritage. How can you remember something that you’ve never learned?

Our Latest Addition

Meet the Eastern Painted Turtle who is the latest creature to take up residence in our pond. The young squire and I rescued him from the middle of a high speed road and decided that the friendly confines of our pond would be much more peaceful.

And with a face only a mother could love!

Daily Fred Thompson Fact

IMAO provides us with their lastest factoid:
"Fred Thompson has enough strength to throw Rosie O'Donnell ten feet."

Professor Stephen Smith

Powerline recently posted this article about Professor Stephen Smith. This is what our country is all about.

Professor Smith goes to Hanover

University of Virginia Law Professor Stephen Smith has been elected by alumni to the Dartmouth board of trustees. Professor Smith is the fourth petition candidate in a row to be elected to the board. The great Bill Buckley took note of Professor Smith's candidacy in his column here, as did the New Criterion in an editorial here, and Instapundit proprietor Glenn Reynolds in his New York Post column here.

Professor Smith told his story in his own words:

The path that took me to Hanover almost a quarter of a century ago was anything but ordinary. I grew up in the inner city of Washington, D.C. My mother, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, raised my three siblings and me on her own, relying on public assistance. A black kid growing up on welfare in a broken home—my future, any sociologist would have told you, wouldn’t have included an Ivy League degree or a tenured position at a Top Ten law school.

My mother, however, refused to tolerate self-pity. “You’re a welfare recipient,” she would tell me, “but be the best anyway.” Throughout my youth, my mother repeated that lesson, insisting that I remain in school, taking my education seriously. Be the best. Because I worked hard—and listened to my mother instead of accepting the low expectations of my environment—I had many fine options for college. I chose the best. I chose Dartmouth.

When I learned that I couldn’t use my ROTC scholarship at Dartmouth, I was inclined to attend a different institution so that I could graduate free of debt. Then the Admitted Minority Student Overnight Program offered to pay my airfare to Hanover. The trip was my first to Dartmouth—and only the second time I had ever set foot on a college campus. When I got home, I knew. I had to go to Dartmouth. I had fallen in love with the College.

During my four years in Hanover, my love of Dartmouth grew still deeper. Studying History and Philosophy, my majors; playing freshman football and, for a time, basketball; making friends at my freshman dorm, Richardson Hall, and my fraternity, Sigma Nu: These experiences enabled a shy sixteen year old black kid from a poor neighborhood to acquire a trained mind, self-confidence, and friendships that endure to this day.

Since graduating from the College, I have clerked at the United States Supreme Court, practiced law at leading firms in Washington, D.C., and become a full professor of law at the University of Virginia—all as my wife and I raised our five boys. All that I have achieved—all that I am—the College made possible.

Now I would like to repay my debt to Dartmouth.

Now Professor Smith will indeed repay his debt to Dartmouth. He will bring great intellect and strength of character to the Dartmouth board. We salute him and our alma mater.

The View

I am greatly concerned about TV shows like this. Unfortunately, this has to be seen to be believed.



I will follow this up with a more comprehensive post shortly. Though I will say that this buttresses my argument for rescinding women's suffrage.

Also, please see The Anchoress' take on Joyce Behar's ridiculous list of President Bush's impeachable offenses. The woman is a moron. Especially, if it's true because Al Gore and Jimmy Carter say so!

And, yes Rosie, we do think you think the troops are terrorists - along with all of your wing nut friends. You support the troops, my ass.

Don't Know Much About History Redux

Another map - this time of all the wars we have fought, where they were, how many soldiers we lost and which party was in office at the time.

CWCID: Tigerhawk - again.

Don't Know Much About History

The Civil War In Four Minutes.



CWCID: Tigerhawk

With Fans Like Hugo...

On the lighter side, Jack Fowler has this post at The Corner:

It All Comes Down to Baseball
Chavez Demands Pope Apologize for Indian Comments
Hugo must be a Tribe fan, po'ed that Benedict roots for the Padres and Cardinals.

Let's Row?

Mark Steyn provides an update on the efforts to build a pathetic memorial to the Flight 93 passengers:

"Five and a half years on, the only good news on the 9/11 memorials is that they're not (yet) Islamic Education Centers funded by Saudi princes. Nonetheless, Jonathan V Last's account of the Flight 93 memorial's "progress" makes very sobering reading. A combination of bureaucratic process and our contemporary culture's default mode of tasteful passivity has brought about something that's more or less the precise opposite of what Flight 93 embodies:

Part of the Bowl is designated "Wetlands": "The area will be its own kind of healing landscape, as it will be a habitat full of life. . . . Here visitors will be most aware of continuously connected living systems as the circular path literally bridges the hydrology of the Bowl."

The architects proclaimed that their plan was for a "living memorial" that "offers the visitor space for reflection, learning, social interaction, and healing."

All that plus wind chimes. A true Flight 93 memorial would honor courage, action and improvisation, but reflection, healing and wetlands are the best we can manage. Go to any Civil War memorial on any New England common, and marvel at how they managed to honor their dead without wetlands and wind chimes."

The Flight 93 passengers epitomized the national characteristics to which we used to aspire. When they recognized the dangerous situation they were in the passengers organized and attacked the hijackers in an attempt to save not only themselves but also their fellow countrymen.

Since we, as a nation, seem to be intent on removing anything resembling courage and self reliance from our national character, perhaps would should just raise a single flag pole on the memorial site and fly a white flag from it.

Not Fade Away

I believe it has long been a standing tradition for former U.S. presidents to gracefully leave the world stage after their time in office, to write their memoirs and to, above all, refrain from engaging in policy debates with or about the current president. This is how the United States, for over two hundred years, has shown the rest of the world that power can be peacefully transfered from one administration to another. And apparently, someone forgot to tell former President Carter.

While I once admired President Carter and actually met him on two occasions, I no longer find him or his opinions praiseworthy. Quite the contrary, Jimmy Carter now seems to be a bitter, old man who takes a great deal of money from questionable Arab contributors, makes anti-Semetic remarks and has recently said about President Bush "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." Carter went on to criticized Bush for having "zero peace talks" in Israel. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Camp David Accords ended all the problems of the Middle East - didn't they?

For someone who is going down in history as one of the worst U.S. presidents ever to be so critical of another president is just unseemly.

Heelllloooo Oooouuuutttt Thhhheeerrreeee.......

Is anybody out there even taking notice of our record setting stock markets? This news story definitely doesn't seem to be getting the attention that it deserves:

"The Dow Jones industrial average registered its 24th record close this year and the Standard & Poor's 500 index came within striking distance of its record high."

And the current Congress is trying their best to rescind the Bush tax cuts.

Unbelievable.

Tax cuts - they work every time they're tried. According to Ed Morrisey:

"The tax cuts sparked an economic expansion that continues to this day, one which has increased revenues to the federal government by 22% since their full implementation. The lower rates improved capital investment in the economy, created jobs and lowered unemployment to 4.5%, and expanded prosperity.

What has been the Democratic response? Not only to raise taxes back to the pre-expansion level, but to add even more federal spending on top of it. It envisions a 5% increase over FY 2007 spending just to start. That's the largest single-year increase since 2002, and it comes on the compounded increases of 3-4% year-on-year of the Republican Congresses of the Bush term. It represents a whopping 40% increase from FY 2000, when the budget came in at $2.1 trillion.

The current Congressional leadership doesn't want people to think that they're raising taxes. If not, where do they expect to get the money for the federal budget expansion? They will take capital out of the marketplace, where it creates and maintains jobs and production, and stick it into a federal system which burdens both -- creating an even greater need for federal spending on entitlements and welfare.

This budget shows that while Republicans spent like drunken sailors, they managed to avoid picking pockets like Fagan's ring of young thieves while doing so. The Democrats want to give us both."

Quote Of The Day

"The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage."
- Thucydides (471 BC - 400 BC)

The Fredralist Papers

Fred Thompson has issued another one of his position papers which will henceforth be know here as "The Fredralist Papers". This one is about that humorously titled piece of legislation "The Fairness Doctrine" - which is anything but.

"Insiders say it was the collapse of the radio station “Air America” that led to this attempt to retool the Fairness Doctrine as a form of de facto censorship. I guess the idea is that, if you can’t compete in the world of ideas, you pass a law that forces radio stations to air your views. In effect, it would force a lot of radio stations to drop some talk show hosts — because they would lose money providing equal airtime to people who can’t attract a market or advertisers.

The funny thing is that the success of the current crop of radio talk show hosts is due, in part, to a lot of people’s perception that broadcast television doesn’t give the views of their audience a fair shake. Maybe I shouldn’t admit it, since I dabble in radio myself, but this media used to be viewed as a kind of broadcast ghetto. The bicoastal elite had such a grip on the major newspapers and television networks; they pretty much ignored the hinterlands. It was media flyover country.

Now congressional leaders say they want to “level the playing field” there too — meaning they want to diminish the importance of conservative talk radio. In other words, they don’t trust the results of freedom and the marketplace. Why am I not surprised?"

Fred Thompson Daily Update

"Fred Thompson not only doesn't add cream or sugar to his coffee, he doesn't add water."

Dehumanizing The Enemy

Tigerhawk, always a thought provoking commentator, has outdone himself with a recent post entitled "On dehumanizing the enemy in war and the nature of victory".

This post as well as the comments to it are well worth your time.

Amnesty

I do not understand the united stance Congress and the White House have taken with regards to Immigration Reform. They are in the process of handing over sections of our country to people who came here illegally, are not citizens and do not belong here. Why are these people allowed to go to the "head of the line" just because they are here? Send them back to where they came from and let them apply for citizenship legally. Then secure the boarders and do not ever let this happen again.

How does our nation benefit by making these people citizens? Doesn’t this amnesty just encourage more illegal immigration? When will this idiocy end?

The politicians that are involved in this effort need to be held accountable for their actions. Any government that can not secure its own boarders and/or refuses to do so fails one of its principal reasons for existence and should be replaced – without exception.

Quote Of The Day

"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster."
- General William Tecumseh Sherman

So, How Were Your First 100 Hours?

Matt Drudge is reporting that Nancy Pelosi is threatening to change a House Rule which has been in effect, unaltered, since 1822. While it may be a little early in the news cycle to be overly critical, I think Speaker Pelosi may be finding out first hand how difficult it can truly be to actually govern.

PELOSI LOWERS THE BOOM
Wed May 16 2007 14:43:59 ET

After losing a string of embarrassing votes on the House floor because of procedural maneuvering, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to change the current House Rules to completely shut down the floor to the minority. The Democratic Leadership is threatening to change the current House Rules regarding the Republican right to the Motion to Recommit or the test of germaneness on the motion to recommit. This would be the first change to the germaneness rule since 1822. In protest, the House Republicans are going to call procedural motions every half hour. Developing...

Quote Of The Day - Mothers Day Edition

In honor of Mothers Day, you get a two for one Quote Of The Day.

What harried mother has never felt this way?

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
- Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997)

And now, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

"Sometimes when I look at my children I say to myself, "Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin."
- Lillian Carter, mother of Jimmy and Billy

Miss Lillian, we wish you had stayed a virgin too.

Happy Mothers Day!

A Happy Mothers Day to all of you Mothers out there, female or not.

You know who you are.

Don't Bury Your Heads In The Sand

I tried to extract a quote from Mohammed’s post at Iraq The Model but just couldn’t do it. So, here is the post in its eloquent entirety:

"I had said it over and over again that some of us in Iraq and America are sending wrong messages to the terrorists and the dictators behind them; in fact I wasn't surprised when I saw Zawahiri appear on al-Jazeera to announce America's defeat, not long after Reid did.

Zawahiri claims al-Qaeda has won and Reid claims America has lost but I see only a war that's still ongoing and I see no victory for al-Qaeda or any other entity. On the contrary I see that al-Qaeda has the shortest stick.

We are going through a fierce war and sending more wrong messages could only further complicate an already complicated situation and create more mess that would be exploited by Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia for their own purposes—more iron-fist control on the peoples and treasures of the region and pushing the middle east to crises and confrontations with the world not forgetting spreading their dark, backward ideologies.

The American forces should stay in Iraq and yes, reinforcements should be sent if the situation required. Not only that, these forces should be prepared to expand their operations whenever and wherever necessary in the region to strike hard on the nests of evil that not only threaten the middle east but seeking to blackmail the whole world in the ugliest way through pursuing nuclear weapons in a feverish desire to destroy themselves along with everyone else. It's a delusional obsession with power derived from the false belief that only they possess absolute justice while denying the right to exist to anyone who disagrees with them.

We must keep fighting those criminals and tyrants until they realize that the freedom-loving peoples of the region are not alone. Freedom and living in dignity are the aspirations of all mankind and that's what unites us; not death and suicide. When freedom-lovers in other countries reach out for us they are working for the future of everyone tyrants and murderers like Ahmedinejad, Nesrallah, Assad and Qaddafi must realize that we are not their possessions to pass on to their sons or henchmen. We belong to the human civilization and that was the day we gave what we gave to our land and other civilizations. They can't take out our humanity with their ugly crimes and they can't force us to back off. The world should ask them to leave our land before asking the soldiers of freedom to do so.

The cost of liberating Europe was enormous in blood and treasure and thereafter it took half a century of American military presence to protect Europe's nations from subsequent threats—now if that made sense during a cold war, and it did, then I don't understand why would anyone demand a pullout from Iraq (and maybe later the middle east) when the enemies are using every evil technique, from booby trapped dead animals to hijacked civilian aircrafts to kill us and destroy the human civilization.

Yes my friends, I will call for war just as powerfully the bad guys do and I must show them that I'm stronger than they are because those do not understand the language of civilization and reason. They understand only power, and with power they took over their countries and held their peoples hostages. Everything they accomplished was through absolute control over the assets of their nations through murder, torture, repression and intimidation.

The policy of the United States and her allies needs to adjust to make better use of the energy God-or nature or whatever you name it-blessed them with. We need to see a firm policy not afraid of making tough decisions replace the Byzantine debate of withdrawal. This became America's destiny the day it became a superpower. A destiny to show responsibility toward her own people and toward the world, and running away from this responsibility won't do any good.

Otherwise those who prefer to bury their heads in the dirt today will be cursed forever for abandoning their duty when they were most capable. I don't understand why someone who has all the tools for victory would refuse to fight the enemy that reminds us every day that it's evil with all the daily beheadings, torture and violations of all humane laws and values.

Some will keep on blaming America and her policies and they will consider anything America did and does wrong whether America stayed or left, fought or ran away, negotiated or boycotted. There will always be those who blame America for everything that goes wrong in this world but that doesn't mean America has to listen to them. America instead should listen to the spirit of America and what it stands for.

Reaping the fruit won't be today, it will be in the future after patience and great fighting."

Day By Day

As news reports in the main stream media continue to paint a bleak picture of the situation in Iraq, the new British prime minister thinks about pulling out their troops and Congress continues its efforts to defund the war, Chris Muir nails it with a simple cartoon:

If you don't read Chris regularly - you should. I wonder if his recent embedded visit to Iraq has something to do with his opinion on the subject?

Quote Of The Day

"Virtuous motives, trammeled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness. A sincere love of peace is no excuse for muddling hundreds of millions of humble folk into total war. The cheers of the weak, well-meaning assemblies soon cease to count. Doom marches on."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), March 1936, demanding British re-armament

Cassandra Strikes Again

Cassandra at Villainous Company has a great post about Iraq and the presentation of the Silver Star to Major Gantt. Please be sure to visit her blog and read the entire article.

"I don't believe in Fate. Not in the sense of an unalterable destiny, some grim, unavoidable future that sweeps us up and dashes us against the rocks of predetermined events. Such visions reduce us to insensate flotsam bobbing in a maelstrom we can neither control nor escape.

Perhaps this is hubris.

If it is, I'd rather be guilty of overweening pride than fall victim to the kind of attenuated ennui that afflicts so many of my generation; the effete moral lethargy that automatically equates faith with oppression, disagreement with censorship, the capacity for moral judgment with racism and intolerance. But oddly enough, though I doubt the existence of a fixed destiny, I've never for a moment doubted that some things happen for a reason.
Perhaps they happen to offer us a choice, a fork in the road. What we do, when we come to that fork, reveals our character for all the world to see:

America is caught up in a debate of whether we should bring our troops home or if we should make one last attempt to bring peace and stability to Iraq. Yet, we don’t pay attention to the details of the war. Last weekend, an American hero received one of the Army’s highest honors – a Silver Star. His award was largely unnoticed, overshadowed by Paris Hilton’s incarceration.

And so, when I read things like this, even though I may be momentarily tempted to feel bitter, to become cynical, to throw in with the 'it's not worth it' crowd, I have to stop and remember who I am. And more importantly, who they were. And are: the Americans and the Iraqis who stand between us and those who would destroy everything we hold dear.

It's easy to make generalizations, to lump people into categories. But what if Iraq judged us all by Harry Reid? Dear God in heaven, what if they judge us by our Congress? That is not the test.

The burden of civilization has always been carried upon the backs of a very few. Most of us are free riders; we coast on the efforts of far better men than we can ever hope to be. And if we are relying on the mainstream media to bring us tales of heroism and honesty and integrity, I fear we shall wait a very long time. Yet those tales exist.

Ask Major Gantt.

And then put this war, with all its casualties and daily setbacks, its moments of triumph and bitter shame, into the context of history. This is a letter, not a binding parliamentary vote. How often have bills come up in our own Congress only to wither on the vine for lack of support when push came to shove? And as to our losses, though they are grievous they too have a place in history. The total number of casualties we've suffered since 2001 is roughly comparable to our losses in one day at the battle of Normandy.

One day.

Yet we say we are tired of war. We have had enough of suffering. We, the richest nation on earth, cannot afford to go on.

But we support the troops, who believe in what they are doing. Oddly, they are not too tired; though they don't spend their time relaxing in comfortable surroundings, shopping and surfing the Internet as we here at home do. They are too busy. I will give up when they say it is time to give up, and not one moment sooner.

Because they are the ones who have bought and paid for this fight with their blood. They are the ones who are there, seeing it all first hand. They are the ones I trust to tell me when it is time, and we owe them something.

We owe them a little bit of intestinal fortitude. Because everything in life is a choice, and it's what you do when you come to those difficult forks in the road that shows what you are made of. Somehow it seems to me that our road is not all that hard.

And our path is crystal clear; at least if honor still means anything."

Quote Of The Day

"After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood."
- Fred Thompson, Speech before the Commonwealth Club of California

Hope I Die Before I Get Old

Quote Of The Day

".... You ask, What is our policy? I will say; "It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."

- Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), 1940, in his first address as the newly appointed Prime Minister.

Every night, Osama checks under his bed for Fred Thompson

The excerpt below is from Fred Thompson's prepared remarks for a speech to the Lincoln Club Annual Dinner delivered in Orange County, California, Friday, May 4, 2007:

"So we meet again, and I'm honored, because I know we're here for the same reasons: Love of our country and concern for our future.

A lot of Americans have these concerns tonight. They are concerned about the way things are going in our country right now. Some fear we may be in the first stages of decline. We've heard this malaise talk before.

Of course Iraq is a large part of it. Not only is it tough going, but the effort is besieged on all sides. From those playing the most crass kind of politics with it at home to criticism from around the world.

Even at home, as we enjoy the benefits from one of the best economies we've ever had, people seem uncertain; they raise concerns about global competition or a growing economic disparity among our citizens.

These are challenges. But how we react to them is more important than the challenges themselves. Some want us, to the extent possible, to withdraw from the world that presents us with so many problems, in the hope they will go away. Some would push us towards protectionist trade policies. Others see a solution in raising taxes and redistributing the income among our citizens.

Wrong on all counts. These are defensive, defeatist policies that have consistently been proven wrong. They are not what America is all about."

Quote Of The Day

"It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required."
- Sir Winston Churchill

Daily Fred Thompson Fact

I'm sorry if you don't find this as humorous as I do. But I think IMAO is doing a great public service with these daily factoids.

"Fred Thompson can win any presidential debate by answering "I'm Fred Thompson" to every question."

Thank You Peggy

Peggy Noonan comes to the rescue with a piece in The Wall Street Journal about the Republican debate which I decided not to watch. My take on this extended political campaign season was summed up best by Newt Gingrich when he said "This is stupid."

While most of Peggy's article has to do with the debate, who won, who lost, who went sideways, I thought this part was particularly insightful:

"This is a piece about Thursday night's Republican presidential debates, but first I would like to note that the media's fixation with which Republican is the most like Reagan, and who is the next Reagan, and who parts his hair like Reagan, is absurd, and subtly undermining of Republicans, which is why they do it. Reagan was Reagan, a particular man at a particular point in history. What is to be desired now is a new greatness. Another way of saying this is that in 1960, John F. Kennedy wasn't trying to be the next FDR, and didn't feel forced to be. FDR was the great, looming president of Democratic Party history, and there hadn't been anyone as big or successful since 1945, but JFK thought it was good enough to be the best JFK. And the press wasn't always sitting around saying he was no FDR. Oddly enough, they didn't consider that an interesting theme.
They should stop it already, and Republicans should stop playing along. They should try instead a pleasant. "You know I don't think I'm Reagan, but I do think John Edwards may be Jimmy Carter, and I'm fairly certain Hillary is Walter Mondale."

Touche.

I Know People That Write Like This

Don't ever tell the public school teachers:

"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?"

This House regrets the founding of The United States of America?

The Oxford Union recently debated the proposition that "This House regrets the founding of The United States of America". Only in the UK. And then they invited a Communist and two proponents of Sharia Law to make the case for them. I am pleased to announce that the proposition was soundly defeated.

Here is a quote from a BBC story about the event by Matt Frei:

"America encapsulated the principles of the Enlightenment - Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - wrapped them in the pursuit of happiness, underpinned them with an inalienable right and turned an IDEA into a country.

It took the missteps of the French and the English revolutions and it made them work.

Yes, there were terrible mistakes - the gross hypocrisy of slavery, segregation and McCarthyism, to name a few. But America found and keeps finding the solutions to its mistakes. It is a giant, rolling social experiment in constant pursuit of self-correction. As Bill Clinton once said: "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

In America the idea was ragged, rough and imperfect but it kept growing, it kept evolving and, if this isn't a vote of confidence, it kept attracting people, millions of them - Dutch pilgrims, Russian Jews, persecuted Egyptians, hungry Mexicans, uprooted Kurds, homeless Armenians, unloved and underpaid British film stars, now luxuriating in Hollywood. Ask them if they regret the founding of America!

The US is a nation built not on ethnicity, not on religion, not even on history but on an idea.
Not only does this make America different, I would argue it also makes it ideally suited for the 21st Century. We live in a globalised world in which national boundaries are less and less relevant and the citizenship of ideas is more and more defining.

Al-Qaeda also strives for a world without borders, a trans-national entity based on ideas, which a majority of Muslims find as unpalatable as we do. So, ask yourself and be honest: where would you rather live - the Caliphate or California?

We Europeans created America and to regret this is to engage in a colossal act of self-denial verging on self-mutilation. We have a stake in its survival and its success and we ought to nurture it, not bring it to its knees or delight in its misfortunes. We can criticise its leaders without regretting its existence.

The reality of America may be vexing, frustrating, infuriating and puzzling but its promise is no less real and, given the right voice, should be no less inspiring."

Fred Thompson

As you may or may not know, Fred Thompson, the former US Senator from Tennessee and current New York District Attorney on Law and Order, is considering a run for the Presidency. He has been busy publishing common sense oriented position papers at National Review and is positioning himself as the only "Reagan conservative" soon to be in the race. IMAO has decided to run Daily Fred Thompson Facts and this is my favorite one so far:

"Fred Thompson considered running for reelection after 9/11 but later decided to handle things on his own. He was soon seen entering the Middle East with a bottle of tequila in one hand and a handgun in the other. They're still counting the dead.”

If there is one ounce of truth to that statement then the man has my vote.

Quote Of The Day

What is left when honor is lost?
- Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims

VETO!

Well, what do you know. The Democrats have managed to get the veto they were promised by the White House. I need someone to explain to me why everything the Democrats are invested in is bad for the United States. Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi are a disgrace to this country and everything it stands for. One can only hope the longer they are in power the more the country will see just exactly where the Democrat Party would lead us and stop them before we get there. This is politics in it's most atavistic form.